How do you know what to eat?

How do you know what to eat?

As an educated, health-conscious person you’ve probably absorbed plenty of wellness advice and try to choose the “healthiest” thing, right?

So you give yourself three options: a giant salad with grilled chicken, veggie soup or a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, hold the mayo. You choose one and eat it, feeling empowered by your healthy choice yet uninspired and a bit unsatisfied. Before lunch is over you’re already thinking about an afternoon snack. You’re not hungry of course, just bored by your lunch and in need of something truly tasty to look forward to.

Oh do I know this cycle well. In fact, I lived it for a good decade. Every lunch for almost 10 years I ate a salad with a different type of protein. I thought it was the healthiest choice, I considered it a “safe” meal, something that wouldn’t make me fat and I felt proud for getting my greens.

The problem was that because I never asked my body what it wanted but rather defaulted to salad at lunch, I’d find myself scarfing a large bag of chips around 4 pm or going back for thirds at dinner. I wasn’t hungry but rather rebelling against the restrictive behavior of my early meals.

Many of my clients eat the same thing over and over again because they feel it’s safe. They also will occasionally lose their mind on pizza, pasta, bread, and ice cream to the point of feeling sick or “sad full”, as my cousin Matt calls it.

So why do we push ourselves to sad full at dinner when we’ve been SO GOOD at lunch? Tweet this.

One primary reason is we never ask our body what she wants to eat. Often this comes down to trust as we’re terrified when we ask, our body’s answer will be something we’ve been told is bad for us. “NACHOS. CHOCOLATE. FRIED CHICKEN. NOW!” So instead we just choose salad, even though that’s not really what we want.

So if it’s possible that the “healthy” default of salad and soup are driving you to the chips and cheese at night, how do you know what to eat?

Here’s my step by step process of how to always know what to eat:

1. First, check in with your body to see if she’s hungry. (Often we eat because it’s lunch or dinner time, not because our body is experiencing hunger. *This said, having the time and space to eat when we’re actually hungry is a privilege. if you only have a 5 minute break in your long work day and that’s the single time you have to eat, eat please.)

2. Ask yourself the following questions:

   1. What flavor do I want in my mouth right now? Salty, sweet, sour, bitter?

   2. What texture do I want? Crunchy, smooth, chunky, thick, thin?

   3. What level of richness am I craving? Do I want something light or something heavier?

   4. Do I want my food to be hot or cold?

After asking these questions follow your answer to choose what you’d like for lunch. (And breakfast and dinner, for that matter.)

Simple right?

Yes…..and no.

Giving yourself permission to eat whatever your body wants seems simple but it can be a very scary thing, especially if you have a history of not trusting your body and eating from a “safe” routine.

Try out this process, see how it goes and be VERY gentle with yourself in the process. This is an ongoing practice rather than something we perfect.

Lots of love,

Jamie